London-based Jenan Younis's performances centre around confusion around her identity. Courtesy Jenan Younis
London-based Jenan Younis's performances centre around confusion around her identity. Courtesy Jenan Younis
London-based Jenan Younis's performances centre around confusion around her identity. Courtesy Jenan Younis
London-based Jenan Younis's performances centre around confusion around her identity. Courtesy Jenan Younis

Comedian Jenan Younis on changing perceptions with laughter


Claire Corkery
  • English
  • Arabic

Comedienne Jenan Younis has had her fair share of tough gigs, but there is one in particular she will always remember. She was in the middle of a show when three men walked in and sat in the front row.

"Three skinheads walked in, sat down and just refused to look at me while I was performing. They would not look at me at all, which was really hard. I asked them if I was making them uncomfortable. It took a lot of pushing and prodding to get them to engage," she tells The National. "Sometimes silence is worse than a heckle."

Younis, who by day is a colorectal surgeon, is one of the UK's most promising comedic talents. The winner of the 2019 BBC New Voices award, she is a regular on British radio comedy panels. Her work is centred on her identity as a British woman with Middle Eastern heritage. Her father is Palestinian and her mother is from Iraq.

Her performance on Saturday, at London's Vault, a festival of the arts, will focus on what it's like coming from a Middle Eastern background in modern-day Britain.

“It starts off as a millennial whinge about myself and how nobody sees me. I’ll be the person in a restaurant asking for the bill and the waiter will continually walk past me until the restaurant is closed. Or I’ll be at a coffee shop and four people will push in front of me.

"It's about not being seen as a person and why that is. Is it because I'm an introvert or is it not my fault? Is it society's fault? Are we living in a ­pseudo-woke era where ­everyone who's not white is a person of colour?

“Some of the stories that come from it are mixed-­identity. People assume I’m Asian or Arab or Muslim and I’m not.”

Comedian Jenan Younis wants to change perceptions with laughter. Courtesy Jenan Younis
Comedian Jenan Younis wants to change perceptions with laughter. Courtesy Jenan Younis

Confusion over Younis’s identity is a running theme in both her everyday life and her comedy career.

However, she says she’s been told by comedy promoters, reviewers and some comedians not to talk about her heritage if she wants to progress. “There is still a lot of difficulty in digesting what’s seen as having a controversial ethnic background. I was booked for something that was advertised as a pro-diverse, pro-female event, and they had deliberately sought me out. But when I talked about my Palestinian heritage, I was told I would not be booked again,” she explains.

But Younis wants to change that. She says growing up in Surrey, she was always conscious of not bringing up her background. So comedy was an important tool for her to explore that. 

“Comedy is a great medium for getting across opinions and ideas. You can do much more with comedy than all the ­documentaries and news ­pieces put together. It’s an art form for social change, although I’m not saying I’ve changed anything yet.”

She cites British-Iranian comic Omid Djalili as one of her heroes for being able to talk about tricky topics such as race and identity ­politics to an audience from any ­background laughing along with him.

“I don’t want to just end up doing ethnic nights or nights where you know the audience is on your side. I want to be able to walk into a comedy club and even get the skinheads laughing with me.”

Jenan Younis is performing her show Jenanistan (Work in Progress) at Vault festival in London on Saturday, March 14

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

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MATCH INFO

Manchester City 0

Wolves 2 (Traore 80', 90 4')

BRIEF SCORES:

Toss: Nepal, chose to field

UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23

Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17

Result: UAE won by 21 runs

Series: UAE lead 1-0

While you're here
Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

The specs

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Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

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Price: From Dh117,059

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Top Hundred overseas picks

London Spirit: Kieron Pollard, Riley Meredith 

Welsh Fire: Adam Zampa, David Miller, Naseem Shah 

Manchester Originals: Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sean Abbott

Northern Superchargers: Dwayne Bravo, Wahab Riaz

Oval Invincibles: Sunil Narine, Rilee Rossouw

Trent Rockets: Colin Munro

Birmingham Phoenix: Matthew Wade, Kane Richardson

Southern Brave: Quinton de Kock

The Sky Is Pink

Director: Shonali Bose

Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf

Three stars

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile

Name: Carzaty

Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar

Launched: 2017

Employees: 22

Based: Dubai and Muscat

Sector: Automobile retail

Funding to date: $5.5 million

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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How will Gen Alpha invest?

Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.

“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.

Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.

He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.

Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”

Sun jukebox

Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)

This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.

Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)

The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)

Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.

Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)

Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.

Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)

An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.

Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)

Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.

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The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

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How it works

Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.

Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.

As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.

A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.

Players that lose battles and land will find their coffers dwindle and troops go hungry. The end goal? Global domination of course.

The candidates

Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive

Ali Azeem, business leader

Tony Booth, professor of education

Lord Browne, former BP chief executive

Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist

Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist

Dr Mark Mann, scientist

Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner

Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister

Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster